Hotaru and the Shinigami
by KinkyEyepatchShit
Summary: Takes place during Volumes 22 and 23 of the Manga. Tanaka Renka is a shinigami, and is, for some reason assigned to observe someone in Kyo's group. watch as he attempts to help out without getting in trouble, getting pissed at the supervisors.Sum Inside
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, own anything of Samurai Deeper Kyo, or the very idea or a shinigami. Also, Bleach is NOT involved in this. These are random shinigami from another world or something. I'm just borrowing the SDK characters and probably fudging it up big time.

_Ahfodihga-_ Renka's internal monolog

'akdfahdfa'- other shinigami telepathy

A/N: I have no idea where this came from really. I mean I do watch a lot of Bleach, and I just watched the first episode of Zombie-Loan, which is totally badass. Also, this takes place in the 22nd volume of the SDK manga, and parts of the 23rd, so there are SPOILERS. There's a sort of AU part, but after that, everything continues as in the manga. But regardless, this idea popped into my head. It's all about how a Shinigami follows Hotaru around on an assignment of observing. Surprisingly not killing him. Hmm, things to think about. Also, since there are many views, in American uh…culture, and also Japanese culture whether or not the Shinigami is just one being or a whole group. I decided it'd be more amusing if there was a group. Well anywho, here it is. I'll try 2 make it as painless as possible. And not so crappy.

**Hotaru and the Shinigami**

_You've gotta wonder, how did a normal shinigami, respected and admired by all, wind up haunting this half-witted, dazed, cold, and above all, foolish, pyromaniac, right?_

_This is how._

"Renka-sama," calls a gruff male voice.

I stop in my tracks in the dimly lit hallway and turn toward the voice, "Yeah, what is it?" I ask skeptically, raising a black eyebrow.

The guard shuffles nervously, and fiddles with the staff in his hand, "Uhm, you are to report to Yuusuke-sama immediately, sir," he explains.

Grumbling under my breath, because I so do not need this right now, I run my fingers through the raven locks that weren't up in a short pony tail at the nape of my neck, paying particular attention to the blond patch that ran from the crown of my head to the left side of my bangs.

_Jesus Christ, what the hell does that jerk want now? I just got back from a pain in the ass mission, and now I get another one? Oh he is definitely raising my pay._

And with that, I march off to the bosses' office, intent on giving him a piece of my mind, the cocky bastard.

I pass Marie on my way down the hall, and she stops me, "Hey Re'. Why are you looking so mad? Not that you aren't usually like that, but you were looking cheerful, for you, today," she points out.

I glare at her, and huff, "Oh it seems the esteemed Yuusuke-sama has yet another mission for me," I reply sarcastically

She chuckles, "You never get a break do you? First you had to go take out some fat old guy, and now you have another job," she says.

I narrow my eyes at her, "Yes, and thanks ever so for rubbing it in, Marie," I snap as I turn on my heel and stomp away, my mood not lightening up one bit.

"Well while I do feel sorry for you, that _is_ what you get for lighting Tori-sama's beard on fire!" she calls after me cheerfully.

"It was an accident!" I retort, pivoting on the ball of my left foot and turning to face her again with a stern look, "And besides, I had the decency to put it out right away," I add.

Marie places a hand on her hip, head cocked to the side, strands of her pale blond locks straying from her messy bun and into her face, "Right away you say? If memory does serve me right, you laughed for about five minutes straight, and I put it out," she states.

I grumble under my breath again and turn back around, "Psh, forget you. No one understands me," I whine mournfully, walking off again.

"When you get back, you and the others and I can go for a drink, ok?" suggests the blond, knowing the offer of a drink would cheer me up.

"As long as you're buying!" I call back with a grin.

_Alright, I'm getting free dinks tonight!! _ I cheer internally, _But first, it's off to see this jackass. _

LINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINE

I barge right into the office; effectively startling the sandy haired man crouched behind the desk over paperwork, as the door slams back against the wall with a loud bang.

"Renka, what the hell!?" he exclaims angrily, "You scared me half to death!" he complains.

I roll my eyes and march over to him, perching myself on the end of the mahogany desk, "You're already dead, moron," I remind him.

He huffs and pushes his glasses further up on the bridge of his nose with his middle finger, noticeably flicking me off, "Whatever," he mutters sourly, scribbling something down on the paper work in front of him.

"So what the hell do you want Yuusuke? If it's another fat guy in drag, forget it. I'd rather face Satan himself than do that again," I state solemnly, crossing my arms over my chest.

He glances up at me, "It's nothing like that," he replies, "And besides, was it really that bad?" he adds, the corners of his lips twitching in an amused smile.

"Yeah, it was," I deadpan.

Yuusuke shakes his head with a grin, and picks up a folder from the mountainous pile on his left, "Here's the guy," he says, flinging the folder beside me on the once spacious desk; now littered with take-out cartons and papers.

I frown at him and take it, peering at the contents.

A man with orange hair and dull, lifeless golden eyes stares back at me emotionlessly, "You want me to kill this guy?" I ask.

"Actually, your orders are to merely observe him," explains Yuusuke, bringing himself out of the paper work again.

"What?!" I exclaim, "My job isn't to observe people, it's to kill them!" I snap, already getting pissed off and ready for a fight.

"Your job," starts Yuusuke, removing his glasses at gazing at me sternly, "Is to do as I, and the other generals tell you to do, without question," he states, "Understand?"

I glare back at him, biting back the angry retort that was already forming on my lips, "Yeah, yeah. When am I going?" I ask instead.

Seeing as the problem was solved, Yuusuke places his glasses back on his nose and turns his attention back on the paper work, "Immediately," he replies, "Oh, and no casualties in the mortal kind, alright? You almost killed a kid last time."

I huff, "The moron deserved it! He hit on me," I say.

Yuusuke chuckles, "Well, some can't help feeling attraction to others, and then acting on the seeds of said attraction," he replies amusedly.

"The guy grabbed my ass!" I snap in irritation, "No one gets away with that!" I stand to my feet, fists clenched at my sides.

"Ah yes," he says, "you're the regular little bait for those kinds of men aren't you?"

I growl in the back of my throat, "Yuusuke, you may be a general, but I won't hesitate to kick your ass," I hiss dangerously.

"Yes, yes," he says dismissively, shooing me off with a wave of his hand, "Now off you go! And make sure you aren't seen by any normal people this time."

Burying the urge to decapitate the bastard with my scythe, I compose my self and leave with at least a bit of dignity left.

Once halfway down the hall, I remove the paper on the target from my pocket and take note of the details, "Hotaru of the Four Emperors, a.k.a. Keikoku of the Mibu," I read, not glancing up as I continue walking.

"Note, subject does not like water, or Shinrei, subjects elder half-brother."

I blink, and re-read the last line, "Ok, so the guy doesn't like family, or water," I say to myself, scanning the photo, "What a weirdo. How does he take baths?"

"Talking to yourself again?" asks a smug male voice from behind me.

I mentally count to ten, and then turn around, "What do you want, Kaz? I've got someplace I have to be," I say wearily.

He smirks at me, "Really now? Does the all important Tanaka Renka have a new mission?" he asks.

With a roll of my eyes I nod, and stuff the paper back into my pocket, "Yeah, I do. I actually work, unlike some people I know who wander around here all day like useless old uniforms," I retort evenly, enjoying the look of rage that settles upon his face.

"Now, if that's all you need from me, I'll be going now," I add, and turn to leave.

"Oh you may be on your high horse now, Renka, but sooner or later you're gonna take a mighty bad fall, and no one's gonna be able to catch you!" he calls after me angrily.

_Honestly, he's a moron. Even if he is an official shinigami, he's still low ranked, only because he's lazy and arrogant. _

_But putting him aside, I really have to get out of this hell hole. The longer I'm here, the longer my mission will be, and as soon as I'm done, I can get those drinks.. _

LINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINE

Finally, after very few distractions, I was at the tunnel that leads into the living world.

Even standing at the opening of the tunnel, I could hear the screams coming from within it, but since I had been here for quite awhile, I was used to the back round noise.

Younger shinigamis and trainees always got uneasy when even passing the tunnel on their way to their next assignment here at HQ.

About to step into the tunnel, a voice stops me.

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

_Why, oh, WHY can't I ever get out of this god-forsaken place!_ I shout within my mind, grimacing internally.

_Every single time I'm about to step foot out of here, something stops me, and adds on to the pain in the ass that is actually doing missions for these people._

"No, I don't believe I'm forgetting anything," I reply slowly, cocking my head to the side, "But putting that aside, aren't _you _supposed to be doing paper work?" I add smugly, an eyebrow raised.

Roku frowns at me, scratching at his mop of green hair, dyed no doubt, no matter how many times he claims it's natural, "I've no idea what you mean," he says, "I'm taking a short intermission."

I roll my eyes, "Yeah, tell that to Lena when she catches you," I respond, "Now, great Roku of the five generals, what is it I could possibly be forgetting?" I add sarcastically.

He pulls something out from behind his back and holds it out to me, "Your cloak," he says, putting me face to face with my most untrustworthy enemy.

I sneer at him and glare back down at the black piece of cloth, "Yeah, I'm not wearing that."

"It's protocol," he says, "You know the rules," he grins at me, and forces the vile object into my arms, "Now you can go. Oh, and remember what Yuusuke said about not killing mortals you're not assigned to kill," he adds, and with a wave, he walks off, probably to hide from the captains of the force.

I glare after him, then at the cloak. All shinigami were forced to wear these uncomfortably, stuffy, heavy things when on missions.

_Honestly, I don't know why we have to,_ I grumble in my head,_ It's not like any normal mortal can see us, and even the ones that do see us, we're supposed to kill. _

I place my shoulder bag down on the ground beside me, and glare at the cloak again, "Just what I need… wearing this smelly piece of crap," I mutter to myself bitterly.

I pull it over myself and adjust it, grumbling all the way as I'm dwarfed by what seemed like miles and miles of cloth.

_Like I said before, we shinigami are forced to wear these pieces of crap on missions, but under that, we can wear whatever the hell we want. Matter of fact, General Dor encourages the young female shinigami to wear nothing under their cloaks._

_And after that he quickly got the ass-kicking of his life._

_As for me, underneath this cloak I wear a black sleeve-less shirt with red stitching along the ends of the cloth, and a slit up the middle of the shirt starting at the bottom, ending at my navel, black pants with a low slung belt hanging off of my hips, chains hanging off the pant loops and black boots. And if I don't look badass enough, I have black fingerless gloves with red edges._

With a final sigh, I step forward into the tunnel, ready for my next mission.

After about five minutes, I was getting tired of all the screaming and the ghostly faces peering back at me from the darkness.

So I hum to myself, ignoring the uninvited guests.

_LINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINE_

I reach the end of the tunnel, the bright light of the other side, the world of the living nearly blinding me.

I lift a hand and shield my eyes with it, a rush of sounds assaulting my ears, whereas the tunnel was silent except for the screams of the tortured.

The bad thing with the tunnel was, the science department puts in coordinates, and the tunnel either leaves you near your target, or nowhere close to it.

Thankfully for me, I was lucky, and instead of winding up in some random-ass place, I was standing on a set of steps that lead to a large open arena, a spacious area that looked like it had seen a fierce battle recently.

Peering across the area, sitting on the steps on the other side was a group of people, who looked like they were just finishing bandaging their wounds.

A blond haired girl was shouting at a dark haired man with crimson eyes, and it seemed as thought she wasn't getting the message across, since the man continued to idly smoke his pipe.

Sitting on the ground a few feet away was the target, sitting almost back to back with a silver haired man.

I fish out the crumpled piece of paper with the information of my target on it, glance down at it, then back at the blond haired man.

They were conversating together in low tones, until finally the blond exclaims, "Hey, you smiled!"

The silver haired man stares at him skeptically, "What? No I did not!" he replies.

"You just did! I saw it!" counters the blond once again, not giving up.

The silver haired man gets up from the ground and walks over to the crimson eyed man, "Quit following me!" he snaps.

"You smiled," mutters the blond, "You totally did."

_Why the hell would anyone be assigned to watch this idiot? _I think to myself,_ sure, his fighting skills are probably pretty good, but so what? There are a lot of good fighters in this time. _

As I tuned in again, the chatter had stopped, and the group was tense.

"Something is here," says the brown haired teen, his eyes closed, but his face straight ahead: in my direction.

_No way. They can't see me,_ I scoff internally, rolling my eyes.

My target blinks, and walks right up to me, poking me in my left cheek.

"Ouch," I mutter aloud, because there's just no way can they hear me. Or so I thought.

"Did you guys just hear a voice too?" asks my target confusedly, turning back to look at the others.

"I didn't hear anything," pipes up the blond haired girl.

"I did. Someone said ouch," says the brown haired teen, now along side my target and seemingly peering at me with his closed eyes.

My target now stares right at me, and pokes me again, this time in the forehead,

"God dammit! Watch it, moron!" I snap unwittingly, swiping at the offending hand.

"Whoa," mutters my target, "It's a kid," he says.

I immediately freeze, praying to whatever god is out there that he did not say what I think he just did.

"What are you talking about?" asks a squinty eyed man skeptically, "I don't see anyone."

"Of course you can't squinty, your eyes are closed," I mutter sourly.

"I have always wondered how he can see with his eyes like that," states my target, still staring at me.

"I can see just fine!" snaps the squinty eyed man, brows narrowed, so I could tell he was glaring, "I just can't see what you supposedly just spotted!" he adds.

"You really haven't noticed the uninvited guest until now?" says the crimson eyed man, taking a moment to exhale a puff of smoke, "He's been here for awhile."

"You can see me?" I ask quietly, staring wide eyed at him.

"Of course I can," he replies, "It'd take a moron to miss spotting you."

"What exactly do you see, Kyo?" asks the silver haired man, an eyebrow raised.

"A weird looking kid in a black cloak," replies the crimson eyed man, Kyo.

I glare at him, "I am NOT weird looking!" I snap, "And it's not my fault we're forced to wear these damn cloaks!" I add as an after thought.

"But since you can already see me, I guess I have no reason to continue this invisibility thing," I say, and exhale slowly as the cloaking technique fades. And no, I don't mean the cloak itself.

I frown at the reactions of the group; the squinty eyed man actually opens his eyes, the blond haired girl shrieks loudly, the little silver haired boy's eyes widen, the sightless teen remains silent, the eyepatch wearing old guy gapes at me, and the silver haired man stares with wide eyes.

"W-w-who are you?!" exclaims the girl, finally finding her voice, "And what do you want?"

I sigh, "My name is Tanaka Renka, and what I want is to get out of here, but the job I have to do is none of your business," I reply.

"How do we know you're not here to kill us?" asks the squinty eyed man suspiciously, beady little eyes narrowed.

I stare at him, "Because I'd have done it by now, moron," I reply, attempting to cross my arms over my chest, but failing because of this damned cloak.

I growl low in my throat and finally rip it off, "God damn this piece of shit!" I scream, throwing it to the ground and stomping on it a few times, the group staring at me uneasily.

_Just what I need! These mortals can see me, and now I'm gonna have to write a freaking report! _I shout internally, _just GREAT!! _

After a few moments of stomping and yelling, I calm myself and straighten out my clothes, "Now. You guys go ahead and get a move on. Don't let me stop you, won't even know I'm here," I say.

The eyepatch wearing guy snorts, "Are you joking, brat? You're probably gonna ambush us in the middle of another fight," he says, "Not that I, the great Bontemaru-sama will let a snot nosed little brat catch me by surprise," he adds.

I glare at him, "Listen here, Cyclops, there are three things I hate most," I snap, "Men hitting on me," I edge closer to him, "Paper work," I'm only a few inches away, "And assholes who call me a brat!" I shout in his face, "Now, I'm gonna follow you morons, and you're gonna accept it, GOT IT!?"

"I've got enough baggage to worry about, and now you want to join us?" asks Kyo.

I stop glaring at the eyepatch wearing man and turn my attention to the crimson eyed man,

"I never said anything about joining you," I reply, "I don't give a shit about your fight. I have a job to do, and I would have done it without you guys knowing, but apparently you can see me," I state.

"Times like these, I miss her," says the blond haired man randomly, causing eyepatch and the blind kid, at least he's probably blind, to freeze in place, "I really miss her," continues the blond.

"No, you don't! What an ominous thing to say!" shouts the sightless teen, grasping the blond by the shoulders,

"But I think she'll be here soon," says the blond, oblivious to the distress of eyepatch and the other one.

I sigh, once again, and ignore the staring blond girl and silver haired dudes.

"Can I help you?" I ask finally.

The girl blushes, "I-I'm sorry for staring, but it's just….your clothes are so strange. Where are you from?" she asks.

"Another world," I reply.

"What are you talking about?" asks the silver haired boy, golden eyes wide, "There aren't other worlds, are there?"

The silver haired man snorts, "Not likely. The Mibu would have found it by now," he states.

"So is this kid crazy?!" pipes up the squinty eyed man suddenly.

I blink in confusion when a feminine hand is thrust under my nose, and stare up at the beaming face of the girl, "My name's Shiina Yuya, nice to meet you!"

I blink again, and reluctantly shake her hand, "Tanaka Renka," I mutter.

Once her smaller hand slips into mine, she gasps as the coldness of my skin jolts her.

She blushes when she notices I had seen the look on her face, "Ehehe," she giggles nervously and removes her hand from mine.

_What did you expect girl? I'm already dead,_ I think to myself, and then notice the silver haired man staring at me more closely than the others were.

"Name's Sarutobi Sasuke," mutters the silver haired boy, nodding in my direction, "And you'd better not try anything."

"Like I said before," I reply, "If I wanted you to be dead, the lot of you would merely be cooling corpses on the ground."

"Who are you really?" asks the silver haired man, eyes narrowed.

I smirk at him, "You give me your name, and I'll give you mine," I respond.

_That was exactly what Rin had said to me the first time I had met her, along with a cocky smirk._

"I am Shinrei of the Five Stars, a soldier of the Mibu," he says.

"Tanaka Renka," I reply, nodding at him in approval, "I mean you and the others no ill intentions. I'm just here to get my assignment over with, and then I can get the hell out of here," I explain.

"Well, I guess I should introduce you to the others," pipes up Yuya suddenly, just ceasing chatter with the boy, Sasuke, and ignoring the antics of the squinty eyed man.

"The older man with the eyepatch is Bontemaru-san," she points to the buff man, where he and the sightless teen were still shouting and shaking my target by the shoulders,

"The guy with his eyes closed is Akira-san, he's blind," continues Yuya.

"They're both part of the Four Emperors, along with Hotaru-san," she adds, pointing to the shaken blond, my target.

"The three of them traveled together with Kyo, I guess you already know him, and this is Benitora, he was part of a group of criminals," finishes Yuya cheerfully.

I nod, taking all the information in.

Suddenly, the sound of metal clacking rings through the air, and I sense a being of great power approaching.

I tense my shoulders, fingers twitching in anticipation and the others murmur to each others in confusion.

"NO!" shouts Akira, "NOO!"

Bontemaru glares at Hotaru, "Hotaru, this is all your fault!" he shouts angrily,

"That's right!" chimes in the blind teen.

"The last of the Four Emperors is here," says Kyo ominously, crimson eyes on the white cloaked figure emerging from the mist in front of us.

The person removes the cloak, revealing a woman with sakura-petal pink hair and a charming smile, "Finally!" she exclaims, "I'm glad to see you again, Kyo," she says.

"Long time, no see, Akari," replies Kyo.

"Indeed. It took me awhile to track you down," she says. Then her eyes land on me, "Oh, and what's this? A shinigami is tailing you, Kyo?"

I stare at her, "You know what I am?" I ask, "Then you must be…a very powerful shaman," I state.

Akari giggles, "Why yes, I am. But why are you following them? Is one of these people on your list?" she asks.

"A-A-A A SHINIGAMI!?" exclaims Benitora fearfully, backing away from me with shaky steps.

I roll my eyes, "Yeah, I'm a shinigami, I kill people," I say, "And yeah, one of these retarded boobs is on my list, but for observation," I explain to the woman.

She quirks an eyebrow at me, "Well that's odd. Shinigami don't usually observe people, do they? Who are you observing, Kyo?" she asks.

I shake my head, "Nope. This idiot," I reply, pointing at Hotaru as he blinks once, twice, and remains silent.

"This has been great and all, but I must be going," speaks up Shinrei, "I take it you're letting me go unharmed, Kyo," he says to the crimson eyed man, "If that's the case, I may try to kill you again."

Kyo stares at him levelly, "Sure, but I won't guarantee your safety if you do," he replies in a warning tone.

Akari ignores that conversation and turns her attention back to me, "Now, tell me really, who are you observing? Is it Akira maybe?" she presses.

Akira frowns at her, "Surely not," he mutters.

I stare at her, "I already told you, I'm observing Hotaru of the Four Emperors, a.k.a Keikoku of the Five Stars," I reply.

"And now I'm probably going to get in trouble for even being seen by these people," I mutter to myself darkly.

Akari smiles, "Naw, I doubt it. Who's in charge now, Isamu, right? Even if he's a tight ass, he'll let it slide," she says.

"I hope you're right," I reply, "And I'm wondering how you know Isamu-sama," I add suspiciously, "Oh god, you guys didn't do it, did you?" I ask almost fearfully.

She giggles again, "Oh goodness no!" she exclaims, "We just go way back, to when I was a little kid."

Turning back around, I notice Shinrei had almost faded into the distance, off on something or other. Not like I care.

_He'd better watch his ass though. If Hotaru works at it, he can beat Shinrei. _

"Now, you guys are doing your duties as Four Emperors right?" asks Akari, focusing on the three men in front of her now.

They nod simultaneously.

"But then why is poor Kyo all scarred up?" she says, placing a hand against the crimson eyed mans cheek gently.

"We only just got here, we swear!" pipes up Bontemaru.

"You don't have a single scratch, Bon," says Akari, still all smiles.

"Uh, I'm all torn up inside! See my right eye?" he says unconvincingly.

"Oh, that's terrible," says Akari sympathetically.

"Yeah," replies Bon.

"Yeah?"

Suddenly, Bon goes flying through the air as Akari strikes at him with a powerful punch, "YOU'VE ALWAYS HAD THAT EYEPATCH!" she shouts.

We all stare at her in horror, while Kyo merely smirks, as the three Emperors get their asses chewed out by this scary, pink haired woman.

_Damn I feel sorry for them, _I think, _Note to self: for the remainder of time here, do NOT make Akari angry._

I tune in again, just to get an earful of Akari boasting about being the Queen Bee of the Emperors, towering over the three men authoritively.

I shake my head and sigh, "Akari-chan, you really are something," I say.

The pink haired woman beams at me, "Why thank you Renka-san!" she chirps.

_That wasn't ment to be a compliment, woman._

"I forgot to ask, what rank are you?" she asks, "You can't be very high up, since you're doing a job as low task as this."

I scowl at her, "Hey, it's not my fault Yuusuke is a moron, and won't make any of the trainees go instead!" I snap, "And I'm a higher ranked Shinigami!"

"Ranks?" mutters Sasuke confusedly, and I notice Yuya also had a question mark above her head.

_A question mark? What the hell, this isn't an anime or something._

"God help me, I shouldn't even be explaining this to you," I mutter, "The ranks go like this: Five Generals, ten captains, high ranked Shinigami, middle ranked, low ranked, trainees, guards and an assortment of other useless people. And then there's the scientists," I explain, waiting to be struck down by someone.

It didn't come, so I shrug, ignoring the weird looks they gave me.

"So, you know the rules guys, and for those of you who don't, it's a secret for the healing fee," says Akari.

"A secret huh? I got one," says Benitora, leaning in close to the pink haired woman.

"See, my eyes are real squinty,"

"Uh-huh."

Bon, Akira, Hotaru and I eavesdrop of course.

"They're always like this but…..they're like this even when I sleep!" hisses Tora in a tight whisper.

_So what, Benitora?_ I think to myself, and Bon, Hotaru and Akira are probably thinking along the same lines.

Akari on the other hand, thinks it's hilarious, and laughs her head off, "That was a good one! Ok, here we go, I'll heal you!" she says, raising her staff into the air as she emits a strange glow.

A moment later, Tora was raving about being instantly healed, and I was amazed.

"Ah, Hell. At least you're not rusty," says Bon with a smirk.

"Of course," boasts Akari, "Who do you think you're talking to?"

"Why didn't you come earlier?" asks Akira.

"Oh, so did you finally have that **surgery?"** comments Hotaru.

Akari starts to kick him savagely in the head, while Bon tries to hold her back.

"You're observing Hotaru-san, right Renka-san?" asks Yuya nervously.

"Yep," I rely nonchalantly, "What of it?"

She glances back at the very bruised target, "Aren't you going to stop Akari-san?"

I glance at her, then back at the Four Emperors, "As long as Hotaru isn't in danger of being killed, I won't step in," I explain, "And besides that, there's no way in hell I'm stepping in during Akari's ass kicking time," I add.

_These four are supposed to be famous, right? So, why are they acting like little kids?_ I think to myself.

"Alright Akari," Akira was saying, "We're done with you now, you may go wherever-"

He gets cut off as Akari punches him in the chest, where his wound was.

"So restless!" comments Akari airily, "You fussed a lot back when I used to change your diaper."

I snicker, as Akira fumes at the pink haired shaman.

I blink when I feel someone's bony finger poke me in the arm.

"Hotaru, why the hell are you poking me?" I ask, quirking an eyebrow at my target.

"Why are you observing me?" he counters.

_Hm, I didn't think he had it in him. He might have some brains after-all._

"Because I was told to," I reply, "And stop that!" I snap, glaring at him as he continues to idly poke me.

"YOU! KYO! DEATH FOR KYO! DEATH!" shrieks Yuya angrily, being held back by Bon, as she tries to kick and scream her way to the crimson eyed man.

"AHH! Yuya-chan calm down!" shouts Bon uneasily.

"He really promised to marry her?" mutters Sasuke, "She's scary."

"Well, Kyo knows he and Akari can't get married," pipes up Akira, "Because Akari is a ma-"

The poor kid gets punched again, and Akari hisses dangerously in his ear,

"Shall I tell everyone how you used to cry like a baby when you saw a caterpillar?"

"Ha, I remember that!" pipes up Bon, "He was fifteen, and crying like a little kid. Hotaru really did a number on that kid during that year. Every time he could, he'd go get a caterpillar from the woods and put it on Akira," he reminisces.

A cold chill settles upon the air, a horrible dark aura rising from Akira as his shoulders shake angrily.

"Hotaru…that was you?" he asks dangerously.

My target blinks, "Probably."

While watching the antics of the men, I had totally missed Akari's story, of how she met Kyo and the others.

"BON! HOW DARE YOU REVEAL MY SECRET!" she shouts, putting the buff man in a headlock,

"It wasn't me, it was Akira!" he says defensively, dragging the sightless teen back towards them.

"HOTARU I'LL KILL YOU FOR THAT!" shouts Akira, struggling against Bon and managing to grab the blond by the back of his shirt,

"I have nothing to do with this," mutters Hotaru, grabbing me by the arm,

"Why the hell are you grabbing onto me?!" I exclaim, trying to pull away from him, "Solve your own damn problems!"

LINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINE

Ten minutes later I was rubbing at my sore arm and glaring at the Four Emperors, "Damn mortals, getting me involved," I mutter sourly.

"So Renka," pipes up Bon, brushing his shoulder with mine, "What are the women like where all the shinigami are?" he asks curiously.

I glower at him, "How about you die, and find out?" I murmur dangerously.

"Didn't you just say 'transvestite'?" asks Tora, his voice rising in shock.

I ignore Bon, and settle my attention on that conversation.

At that moment Yuya and Akari walk up to the group, Yuya pulling on the other woman's hair.

"Oh, did I forget to mention?" pipes up Kyo with a smirk, "The Four Emperors, don't allow Women to join."

Different reactions of shock ripple through us, especially me.

_WHAT?! Then that means…this guy and Isamu-sama…_I cover my eyes with my palm, _Oh god, the images!!_

"Akari is a **man,"** explains Kyo, "His real name is Mitarai Tokichiro."

Akari blushes shyly, "Oh Kyo, don't call me that!" she squeals.

Yuya was staring, unresponsive at the pink haired woman as Bon tries to snap her out of her daze,

"Yuya-chan, are you ok?!" Exclaims the eyepatch wearing man almost frantically, eyes, er, eye wide.

"Yeah, it was a mountain," mutters Hotaru randomly.

"So where are you guys going to go now?" I ask eager to get this over with as fast as possible.

Kyo stands, "Now we go past that gate, and kill everyone we have to," he replies.

I groan loudly and rub at my temples, "Ugh, I so don't need this kind of complicated shit," I mutter.

"Then why are you still here?" asks Akira, 'staring' at me.

I frown at him, "Because I was assigned this job, and if I don't do it, it'll be my ass on the frying pan," I snap.

"Well, let's go then!" exclaims Yuya cheerfully, causing me to stare at her blankly.

_How can this chick have that much enthusiasm? Especially with the people she's hanging out with?_

"Yeah, the sooner we get this done, the sooner I can rule the world!" pipes up Bon, thrusting a fist in the air.

_No way in hell is he going to rule this world, or any world._

"So, Kyo," coos Akari, latching onto his arm as they start to walk away,

_Convincing him to tweak the promise he made to her no doubt._

Yuya's cheery expression turns to a scowl, "Grrr, that BASTARD!" she shouts, waving her hands angrily in the air as she trails after them.

_I have no idea whether she means Kyo or Akari…_

Bon inhales deeply and chuckles, "Those two are definitely gonna go far together," he states, and follows the still fuming girl.

LINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINE

Less than fifteen minutes later, we were walking along in the halls of the Mibu, trying to find this, 'Onmyo Shrine'.

By that time, Yuya had perked up a bit, and was questioning me about my missions, and the others were discussing the whereabouts of this Shrine.

"Tell us Hotaru, this is your home," Bon was saying.

"I don't know. I didn't like this area much," replies the blond, "One thing is certain though."

"What's that?" ask Bon and Akira simultaneously, surprised Hotaru actually has knowledge on anything, let alone anything related to this issue.

"We keep going straight," states the blond, pointing the only way we could continue: straight.

The rest of us sweatdrop.

_Oh god, if I wasn't dead already, these idiots would get me killed, _I think with a sigh.

"This isn't the Onmyo Shrine. The shrine lies beyond this path, but the path splits into four. Only one leads into the shrine," explains Hotaru, oblivious to the looks of disbelief the others gave him.

"Only one?!" exclaims Bon in shock, "Which one?"

Hotaru is silent, his silence speaking volumes.

"You forgot, didn't you?" asks Akira.

"Why can't your remember?!" shouts Bon angrily, glaring at the blond.

"Somebody was always with me," replies Hotaru in monotone.

"Hotaru! You have to stop relying on other people so much!" snaps Akira, just as angry.

"Hotaru, you're a freaking moron," I add for decent measure.

Bon meets my eyes, and I can practically see the light bulb above his head light up.

"Hey, you're a shinigami," he says to me, "Can't you find the way we need to go?" he asks slyly.

I stare at him, "First off, I can't interfere any more than I already have," I state, "and second, I'm only here to observe, so I can't help you out. Sorry guys," I shrug languidly, and cross my arms over my chest.

"Hey," pipes up Hotaru suddenly.

"Do you remember now?" asks Akira.

"A person is falling," replies the blond.

"Hotaru, if you're trying to tell a joke-" starts Bon, sighing wearily.

"AHH!" exclaims Yuya, "Bontemaru-san, someone's falling from the ceiling!" she shouts.

I gaze up, and sure enough, someone was falling, bringing pieces of the floors above down with them.

Luckily, Bon catches them just in time,

"OUCH!",

And gets smacked in the head with a piece of wood.

I burst out laughing, the others, startled by my outburst, stare at me

"See? I was right," says Hotaru

"Then help you idiot!" retorts Bon angrily.

"You were closer," chime in the others.

Bon looks to me to back him up,

"I don't know why the hell you're looking at me," I say, "I hate your guts. And you were closer."

Yuya gasps, "No, Okuni-san?!" she shouts, recognizing the bleeding, panting woman in Bon's arms.

"Okuni-han, I thought you went to Kyoto!" pipes up Tora, as he and the others crowd around the scene.

"K-Kyo-san," she says weakly, "Trouble is brewing," she pays no attention to the rest of them, eyes on the crimson eyed man, "Your body…your precious body…"

They conversed among themselves, as I get the whole story from the kid, Sasuke.

_So this, Nobunaga is gonna take over the world, along with the Mibu, eh? Interesting, but unfortunately, I can't get involved. If I could, I'd enjoy kicking ass. _

"I know you claim you can't get involved," says Sasuke, "But what do you think we should do?" he asks.

I wrack my brain, trying to come up with any sort of advice. The only thing that came to mind was,

"Fight," I reply.

The boy rolls his eyes, "Don't you have any useful advice?" he asks.

I frown at him, "Hey, you asked!" I protest, "And besides, what kind of person asks a shinigami for advice?"

As we start to stroll (and I use this term very lightly) through a large open area with tons of stone pillars seemingly holding the ceiling up, and that's when the fun of my mission really began.

We all stop and stare in shock at the sheer number of soldiers holding Mibu flags in the air; thousands most likely, maybe millions.

"We are the Mibu's strike force, disciples of the shadow God," boasts one of the soldiers, "All who fight the Mibu shall die!"

"H-how many are there?!" exclaims Yuya

"Hey, we're not here for a fight. Can you let us through?" pipes up Tora.

The soldiers start to move toward us, spears and other weapons drawn.

"Hey, didn't you hear me?!" shouts Tora nervously.

Suddenly, the quick march of the soldiers ceases.

"They stopped," murmurs Tora quietly.

And once again, like cloak-work, they raise their weapons and start toward us again.

"Damn!"

Bon surges forward, and Sasuke reaches for his sword, but is stopped by Hotaru, "Leave it to us-The Four Emperors."

"What?" asks Sasuke in shock.

I raise and eyebrow, _Well, these Mibu people sure know how to rush into battle, with flare and style too._

Crossing my arms over my chest, I watch the Emperors cut down their foes with sickening speed, blood and limbs flying through the air.

Ten Mibu soldiers rush at Bon, but he cuts them down, "Hmph. In a hurry to die?"

"What?!" he exclaims once the soldiers are disposed of.

An explosion bursts from one of the soldiers, bloody remains and chunks of the marble floor shooting into the air.

_Suicide bombs?_ I think to myself in amusement.

Akira was doing fine, slicing the soldiers to pieces, when one soldier jumps into his sword, causing the sightless teen to pause,

In that moment, four other soldiers took his distraction as a chance to spear him, regardless of the wellbeing of their own allies.

"NO, Akira-san!" shrieks Yuya, horrified.

_Not to worry, Yuya-chan. The kid isn't dead. _

And sure enough, the impaled Akira turns into a chunk of ice, while the real Akira stands a few steps away, "Nice effort, bad follow through."

He slices his enemies in half horizontally, their corpses collapsing to the ground.

"What's with those soldiers?" asks Sasuke confusedly, glancing at the others questionably.

"They're a suicide squad, kid," I reply, "Merely tools."

Yuya turns her attention to Kyo, who sat against a pillar, smoking his pipe,

"Why are you just sitting there?!" she shouts the girl fiercely, "We have to help the emperors or, KYO, are you even LISTENING!?"

"You should sit down too," he says finally.

The others star at him in confusion.

"You're about to see something special," he replies cryptically with a smirk.

I raise my arms high above my head in a long stretch, and take a seat on the ground, deciding to take up Kyo's suggestion and sit out,

_Though that's what I've been doing this entire time,_ I think sourly, _If only we were allowed to interfere. I need to kill something! _

"Renka-han, you're gonna sit too?!" exclaims Tora in disbelief.

I nod, "Sure, why not? I can't interfere no matter what, only in special cases, and that hasn't arisen yet," I explain.

"You're rules suck," complains Sasuke sourly, "If you had helped us out, we'd be halfway to the Crimson King by now."

I frown at him, "Oh you have no idea how much I want to kill something right now," I snap in irritation, "And I don't see your skinny little ass out there killing things!" I add with a scowl.

The boy matches my scowl with one of his own, "I'd just get in the way I suppose," he replies.

I smirk, "Ha, the brat finally admits it," I tease, reaching over to ruffle his silver locks.

"Quit that!" he growls, slapping my hand away and attempting to fix his hair.

I laugh at him, "Kids these days," I say wistfully, "no respect for their elders."

"You can't be much older than him Renka-han," pipes up Tora, managing to take his squinty eyes off of the bloody battle.

I chuckle, "I'm older than I look. That's all I'll say."

_I'm really starting to wonder why I've been observing them, _I ponder, _They're strong warriors, I'll give them that…But what's so important about them?_

'Damn, you sure are taking a long time with this mission,' muses a familiar voice inside my head, and I internally growl.

_Yuusuke, don't you have some porn to be secretly reading right now?_ I snap, _What the hell do you want!?_

'Just to tell you that your mission will probably be coming to an end pretty soon,' he replies, 'that, and one Sagara Kaz is already in the living world as we speak.'

I scoff, _What of it? That useless fool has nothing to do with me, _I state.

'Nothing to do with you, you say?' he asks, 'It has everything to do with you. I suggest you be careful. He slipped out of HQ unnoticed, and now he's on his way to you,' he explains, 'keep your guard up, and remember it's your ass on the line if he manages to kill your target, or any of the mortals in your group.'

_I thought we weren't supposed to get involved?? And why in the hell did you make him into a shinigami in the first place?_

I feel Yuusuke shrug, 'I think I felt sorry for him.'

I blink in confusion, _What? That's not like you, Yuusuke. You never feel pity, not even for me when I gave up the ghost on the spot._

'True,' he replies, 'I don't know…maybe it's all this paper work I'm forced to do.'

_I think that's called old age,_ I state smugly.

He growls, 'Oi, watch it brat! I have no qualms about making you do paper work duty for a month!'

I chuckle, _whatever you say. And don't worry, I'll watch my back. So back to paperwork for you, I think I hear Lena coming._

'Oh shit!' he exclaims, 'I gotta hide my playboys. Talk to you when you get back!' and with that, the connection is cut off.

"So what's going on now?" I ask Sasuke, who's gaze was focused on the fight.

"I'm not really that sure, but Kyo says they're playing a game," he replies slowly.

"I don't get it," pipes up Yuya, "What are the rules?"

"You'll probably find that out eventually," I state, "but it looks like Bon is winning."

Indeed, the old man had taken down more than eighty soldiers, Hotaru and Akira at a tie with fifty each

"I think the game has really begun now," I say, "They're teaming up."

_Little did I know, things were about to get a little strained in here. _

_LINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINE_

This is where I end the first part. I feel it's a bit long for a one shot, so it'll be a two shot. I've realized I'm not that pleased with it, but this'll have to do. Please go easy on me; I wasn't sure what else I could have done. Sorry. Uhm...people are OOC I know, things got complicated. I shall also explain how the ranks of the shinigami. I'll start part 2 right away, and how fast I get it done depends on the feed-back I get. So Hint, Hint, I never kid when I say I'm a review whore. …review as a belated bday present? Heh. Anywho, please review, no flames, as much as I know you all probably want to.

HotIceRed


	2. Chapter 2:Soul Funeral

Disclaimer: we've been through this before. I don't own ANYTHING Samurai Deeper Kyo related, and this is NOT related to anything of the manga/anime Bleach.

A/N: this is part 2 of my previous story; Hotaru and the Shinigami. I'll again, try to make this as painless and quick as possible. Here, parts of volume 23 of the manga shall be revealed, not much, and a new shinigami comes onto the scene, but as an enemy. And we still must wonder, who the hell decided this would be an observation mission?? I have nothing else to say, except don't flame me. By the way, yeah I know the title sucks.

**The Soul Funeral**

_Yeah, I'm still here. Tanaka Renka, shinigami. Stuck in this hopeless mission: Observe one Hotaru, a.k.a Keikoku of the Five Stars. _

_Last time I checked, Hotaru and the other Emperors were fighting the Mibu's suicide squad, and had started a game in the middle of battle._

_It appears that the one with the least kills has to do whatever the other three say._

_But as they started their game, Yuusuke, my boss and one of the five Shinigami Generals contacted me, and told me to hurry my ass up with this mission basically, and some dumbass was coming to get revenge on me or something. Not like I give a rats ass. _

"We're partners, Tokichiro!" says Bon cheerfully, clasping the shaman's hands in his.

She glowers at him, a positively evil sneer spreading across her lips, "How dare you..." she growls

"Don't call me by that name!" she shouts, smacking the one eyed man with her staff and sending him flying into the fray,

where he lands face first on the ground, surrounded by enemies.

They lunge at him, burying him beneath themselves, the only things seen being their forms and weapons, Bon nowhere in sight.

"Damn, I bet they didn't see that coming," I say, glancing at a startled Sasuke.

"Bontemaru-san!" calls Yuya

_There's no way he died so easily._

"Akari, you!" exclaims Bon from beneath the pile,

Suddenly, they go flying, Bon successfully throwing them off, "I'll get you for this!" shouts Bon.

Akari claps in delight, "Good boy! Good boy!"

_Is he a dog or something? _I think to myself, an eyebrow raised.

"Keep it up!" she continues to praise, while Tora and Yuya stare at Bon is disbelief, eyes wide.

"I guess Bon teamed up with Akari," states Akira, "That fool. Akari'll use him up until there's nothing left," he says with a confident smirk, "Now we really can't loose Hotaru. Hmm?"

I follow the use-users line of sight, or...whatever the hell he uses to see, and gawk.

"Hotaru what the HELL!?" I shout, "You're supposed to be fighting, not poking a caterpillar!"

_They're gonna give me a heart attack.._ I muse to myself, then pause, _Wait, I keep forgetting, I'm dead already._

Sure enough, the blond man was crouched over a small wiggly caterpillar, poking it with a stick.

"DON'T SLACK OFF!" Screams Akira angrily.

"I found a caterpillar," says Hotaru defensively, "He'll get squished."

"There's no time for that!" snaps Akira, "You said we'd split the score even! Keep fighting or we'll lose!"

_Why the hell would Akira team up with this moron?_

Sasuke voices my thoughts, "Why did Akira team up with Hotaru?" he asks.

"Well," pipes up the woman with the huge breasts, "Maybe he figures he has a better chance at winning than with Akari-san or Bontemaru-san," she suggests.

"Meaning he's really desperate," I deadpan.

She giggles, "Yes, but I'd rather not put it is such a pathetic way."

I shrug, "Whatever."

"Now, Renka-san, was it?" she purrs, "I heard you were a shinigami, is this true?" she asks.

I peer at her suspiciously, "Yeah, I am. Why do you ask?"

She shakes her head dismissibly, "No reason, I was just curious. It's rare for a shinigami to be seen by humans. Or so I've heard. The consequences will be high, won't they?"

Yuya glances at me, "You'll get in trouble for letting us see you?" she asks in concern.

I shrug again, "Not like I care. All they can do is give me paperwork and make me write up a report. What I wanna know is how you know about said consequences?" I ask the dark haired woman.

_Just who the hell is she? She's hot, sure, but incredibly suspicious. She may look like a prostitute, but I don't think she's here just for Kyo, no matter what she claims._

She smiles at me like a fox, "I am Izumo-no-Okuni, a spy. I know all," she replies.

I snort, "I doubt you know all, or you wouldn't be here. But no matter," I say, and turn back to the fight.

"Look at them," pipes up Yuya in awe, "Their lives are on the line, but they're enjoying themselves. It's like they're kids playing together," she muses.

I glance at the blond, "That's what fighting spirit is all about," I state, "or so I've heard. I think its all bullshit, but that's just the way I am."

Sasuke stares at me, "You really don't believe in anything, do you?" he asks.

I chuckle, "Well, it comes with age."

I glance to the side, and watch Kyo smirk at the Emperors in amusement, the pipe in his mouth emitting wisps of smoke that float into the air.

_They're not the only ones who are enjoying this._

Moments later, only the ghastly corpses of the soldiers remained, littered among the ground surrounding the Four Emperors.

"Aha ha ha ha! Absolute victory! You couldn't defeat me in a thousand years!" boasts Bon, throwing his head back in laughter.

_This fight's not over yet, _I think, _Something's coming._

Yuya, seeing the look on my face, asks, "What's wrong, Renka-san? They defeated all those soldiers, so there should be nothing to worry about, right?"

I remain silent in return.

Bon was still prancing around and bragging about his 'victory, "I'm number one! Hear that!?"

"Wait," pipes up Hotaru, "Not so fast."

The soldiers broken bodies started to regenerate, and they rose once more.

"W-What's happening?!" exclaims Tora in horror, "Their remains are regenerating! And look, the severed body parts!"

I sigh and shake my head, "Someone is messing with some powerful magic if they can bring back this many zombies at once."

"Can't you do anything, Renka-san?" asks Okuni nervously.

"Honestly, I think they've got it covered," I reply, pointing to the Four Emperors, "I'll wait till they're done."

"But they've multiplied!" exclaims Yuya, "There are at least twice as many as before!"

"What do we do now?" asks Tora.

"Death"

"Death"

"Death to all who rebel against the Mibu!" chant the soldiers.

Yuya readied her gun, as Tora and Sasuke reach for their own weapons and Okuni steps forward,

_Though I don't know how much boobie over there can do, except maybe flash the soldiers. _

"They can't fight 'em all off!" says Tora, "I'm going in!"

"There's no need," Kyo finally speaks up.

That stops the others in their tracks,

"Why not?!" exclaims Tora,

"We gotta help them or" Yuya is cut off.

"What do you think happens when the four emperors gather?" questions Kyo.

Yuya frowns, "I remember when Bontemaru-san and Akira-san did a combo attack, their attacks grew fivefold," she states.

"Hm, then the four of them together can take down these zombies, and more," I muse slowly.

Tora quickly calculates, "That would make…one hundred twenty five," he says in awe.

"You're wrong," deadpans Kyo, his smirk growing wider, "With the four of them together, their power is infinite."

As he finished his sentence, the Four Emperors had gathered back to back, surveying their foes with different expressions of delight,

"This is nice," says Akari

"I agree," replies Hotaru.

"Just like old times,"

"Yeah,"

"So true."

"This is great."

"Is that really possible?" asks Tora, eyes wide and frantic, "Can their power be infinite?"

"Ask yourself that. How long have you been traveling with Kyo?" I respond, "Obviously anything is possible."

"Why, Renka-san, if I'm not mistaken, I'd say you look almost eager," says Okuni slyly.

I glance at her and shrug, "I _am _here to observe," I explain, "I'm ready to see what these Four Emperors are really made of."

As soon as I had spoken, a great surge of power rips through the room, surrounding the Four in a glow, blinding the rest of us with bright light.

When the explosion and light had ceased, in the place of the soldiers was a giant crater in the middle of the room, the whole corridor blown away.

"Well I'll be damned!" I exclaim with a grin, "That really was something."

The only responses I get are Bon and Akari's matching grins and Akira's smug smirk.

Yuya and the others, excluding Kyo of course, were staring at them; mouths hanging open, eyes wide in complete shock.

I laugh again and slap Sasuke on the back, "Snap out of it kid! Be glad these four didn't take the rest of us out with the zombies!"

Bon frowns at me, "We would not have killed you guys too," he says.

I stand and brush off my pants, "Can you really say that with confidence?" I counter.

"Why, yes I can! I am the great Bontemaru-sama!" he boasts, raising his chin high into the air airily.

"Well, Great Bontemaru-sama, you might want to move out of my way, I have a job to do," I say playfully, and step past him.

"You're finally going to do something useful?" asks Akira, placing his index finger and thumb against his chin.

"You don't want the souls, or whatever these things were made of, to come back for you, do you?" I ask, raising an eyebrow at him skeptically.

Akira nods, "You have a good point. Carry on."

I nod, "Thanks, I was just adamantly waiting for your approval oh great King of caterpillar phobia," I say sarcastically.

The ice-user narrows his brows (A/N were u expecting eyes?) and glares at me, ignoring the snickers of the others, "I am NOT afraid of caterpillars!" he hisses.

"Hey look, there's one on your head," pipes up Hotaru, pointing to Akira.

Akira frantically waves his arms around in a panic, "GET IT OFF ME!" he shouts.

In return, that earns bursts of laughter from everyone else, and I merely roll my eyes,

_He really needs to get over that._

"If you guys are done," I say, staring pointedly at Akira who had pressed the tip of one of his swords to Hotaru's neck,

They fighting ceases, after Akari punches both Hotaru and Akira in the back of their heads, and nods to me, "Go ahead."

She narrows her eyes at a snickering Bon, amused by his companions' pain,

Akari lashes out with her left fist, and lands a sucker punch to the eye patch wearing man's jaw, sending him crashing to the ground.

_I'm so glad she's on our side._

I extend my right arm, my palm turned downwards, and my Scythe materializes in it.

"Holy!" exclaims Tora with wide eyes.

_Yeah it must really be a sight to behold, _I boast mentally. My scythe was almost as tall as me, the pole pitch black, along with the curved blade. The blade itself had red flames dancing along the edges.

_Oh yeah, I am quite proud of my baby. _ I smirk, and raise my scythe high into the air and close my eyes.

The blade starts to glow, and bright blue smoke curls around me and rises into the air; this was what remained of the Mibu's zombies, their physical bodies disintegrated. (1)

The air above me starts to ripple, making a portal into the other side.

The smoke that twirled around me immediately begins to float into the air and into the portal, and a moment later, the smoke was gone, and I lowered my blade; the glowing had stopped.

I groan and roll my shoulders forward, and noticing the silence, I glance around at the gaping group.

"What?" I ask in confusion, blowing my bangs from my eyes.

"W-what the hell was that?" murmurs Tora in awe, eyes darting from me, up to the ceiling.

"Oh," I shrug it off, "that was how we send souls on to the other side," I explain, "A kind of memorial."

"That was beautiful," mutters Yuya, wiping at her eyes.

I stare at her skeptically, "It was no big deal, jeez."

_I've never seen so many emotional and annoying people gathered together, _I muse to myself.

"Yuya-san is right, Renka-san," says Akari, "That was very beautiful," she adds sincerely.

I shrug it off and let my scythe disappear, "So now what?"

"Now, the loser has to do what the other three Emperors want," says Bon slyly, an evil glint in his single eye.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

A few minutes later we continued on our way, the Emperors and I taking up the front, while Yuya, Tora, and Okuni snickered in the back, Sasuke and Kyo following silently after them.

"Oh, that felt good!" exclaims Akari cheerfully, grinning.

"It wasn't so tough," agrees Hotaru, that being the most agreement you'd get from him.

"Yeah, too easy!" pipes up Bon with a smirk.

Akira remained silent.

"Good thing Akari healed me. That four way combo was tough," continues Hotaru, strangely talkative.

"Oh, that's no big thing! We're old friends, right?" says Akari.

Akira still remains silent, while Bon chuckles.

"Uh, about that game you guys were playing," pipes up Sasuke, "Why is Akira last?"

That provokes more laughter from Tora, Okuni and Yuya.

_He's on his way to looking like the last target of mine, _I think sourly, steering clear of the ice-user.

Akira's brown hair was pulled up into two short ponytails on either side of his head. In his left hand, he held Bon's stick with the little bundle of his belongings tied to the end, and around his neck was a sign that read; I am the weakest.

The best part was the pants. They were bunched up at his knees and puffed out.

"Akari! You only fought at the end! Why do you do this to me!" protests Akira angrily, fists clenched at his side, the stick discarded.

"Don't you know about my fees?" asks Akari in a business tone, "Look at the chart,"

Here, Bon helpfully holds up a chart with her prices, "No discounts!" continues Akari.

_It's designed so that no one can win against her, _I muse.

"Oh, but you look so good Akira-chan," says Tora teasingly.

And his body is immediately encased in ice, in a really dumb pose.

"Let's go!" snaps Akira, "We're running out of time!"

I snicker as he marches off, "And you, shut up!" he shouts at me.

"Maybe I'll freeze everyone besides Kyo and erase this humiliation from their memories," he mutters to himself.

The ice-user stops, completely serious.

_How can he look serious dressed like that, I wonder?_

Tora takes that opportunity to break out of his ice prison and laugh at Akira, "HA HA HA! You can't act serious looking like that," he says smugly, but then stops as he notices what Akira was looking at. Or whatever he does.

Looming before us were four tall, black doors, surely the four paths to the Onmyo Shrine.

"Hotaru. Now that you're here, do you remember which one leads to the shrine?" asks Bon.

The blond is silent, frowning in thought.

_Wow, Hotaru can think?_

Bon shrugs and with a smirk, dismisses Hotaru altogether for information.

I tense, feeling the presence of another shinigami and notice Kyo tense as well, crimson eyes flickering about.

A blur of black and blond dashes my way, a glint of silver making its way toward my face.

At the last second, I side step to the left, avoiding getting decapitated.

Kaz stumbles over his own feet, and stops, glaring at me, "YOU!"

I roll my eyes, "Yes, me," I reply sarcastically, "What the hell do you want now, moron?" I ask.

The others, Kyo excluded, stare at me in confusion.

"Who are you talking to, Renka-san?" asks Yuya in a worried tone.

"Don't worry about it, Yuya-chan. Just some idiot that followed me from home," I explain, paying no attention to Kaz.

"I told you I'd get you back, and now, here I am, ready to proceed with my revenge!" he rambles on.

"Can you get rid of the fool?" asks Kyo, "He's annoying."

"It's not my fault he hasn't gotten killed on a mission yet!" I retort in irritation.

"HEY! Don't ignore me you bastard!" shouts Kaz angrily, stamping his foot in a huff and effectively dispelling his invisibility.

"Shut up, wise-ass!" I snap, my eye twitching, "I have no time for your idiotic complaints."

Kaz's face turns red in anger, and he reaches into the folds of his cloak, "You asked for it you asshole!" he shouts, "My revenge is right here!" he produces a white envelope.

I sweatdrop, along with the members of the group,

"What the hell is that?" asks Bon, an eyebrow raised.

"Stupid mortal," says Kaz smugly, "It's an envelope of course."

"We can see that, fool," pipes up Akari, "What kind of moron uses a freaking envelope for revenge?"

"I have to agree with them" says Akira, "I don't think Hotaru is even dumb enough to use something like that."

The blond man blinks in confusion, "Eh?" as he looked up from a passing insect.

"Never mind Hotaru," mutters Akira, sweat dropping.

I yawn, "If you're done Kaz, I have a mission to finish," I say nonchalantly, and start to turn away from him.

"GRR THAT DOES IT!" he screams, ripping open the envelope and pulling out what looked like a photo.

I stare at him, feeling my blood run cold, "Where the fuck did you get that?" I ask quietly.

He smirks at me, "Not so tough now, eh Renka-sama? Now when your sins are right here in the open for all to see!" he says dramatically, cackling madly.

Bon blinks in confusion, "It just looks like simple porn to me," he says, "May I see that?" he quickly snatches it from the idiot and takes a closer look, ignoring Tora, Akira, Hotaru and Akari who gather around him.

"What did you do, rape the poor girl?" exclaims Akira.

_I wish, _I mutter internally.

"Akira, you can't even see, so shut up," mutters Bon, "And Tora, stop drooling! You're getting it on me!" he snaps, brushing the substance off his shoulder and glaring at the squinty eyed man.

"My, my, she's a pretty one," comments Akari, "Though not as pretty as me," she boasts, giggling.

I groan and look skyward, _Why god, WHY?! I know I did some really really horrible things when I was alive, but I made up for it by becoming a shinigami! Why do you torture me!?_

In the picture was a long legged, pale girl laying on a bed on her back, her wrists handcuffed to the bed posts.

Her knees were bent the slightest bit, the skirt of the school girl uniform riding up, revealing the slightest bit of her curvy thighs.

Her deep green eyes were lidded heavily; dark hair with a patch of blond in it fell across her face, her blond and raven bangs caressing her cheeks.

Leaking from the left corner of her mouth was a thin trickle of blood.

All in all, this girl was pretty damn sexy, making any guy not blind like Akira or retarded like Hotaru go for the fly of their pants.

"She looks a lot like you, Renka-han, you have a sexy sister?" asks Tora, recovering from drooling a puddle onto the floor.

I sigh, "No, I don't have a sister," I reply.

"So who is it?" asks Hotaru, glancing at the photo, then back at me.

"It's" I begin, but I'm cut off by that waste of skin and bones,

"That, my mortal friend, is Tanaka Renka," he says.

There's an almost audible silence, if you could call it that and a gasp from Yuya.

The guys gape at the picture, then back at me, "So you mean to tell me, this incredibly sexy young girl is none other than Renka?" asks Bon slowly.

"That is correct," replies Kaz smugly.

That produces two screams of horror, and wide eyes.

"Are you really into shit like this?!" exclaims Bon, "Cross-dressing?!"

I stare at him, "I'd be careful what you say, Bon, you do have Akari right there next to you," I state, pointing to the pink haired woman.

Akari smiles, and punches Bon in the jaw, "There's nothing wrong with that!"

She then retrieves the photo from Bon's limp form and peers at it closely, "You do look cute, Renka-san. What brought this on?" she asks.

I scratch the back of my head and shrug, "I was really drunk. And some asshole took advantage of that," I explain.

"You mean, he rapped you?!" exclaims Tora, blood spurting out of his nose.

I stare at him, "No you idiot, he dressed me up," I say patiently.

_You have to be patient with the slow ones._

"And took photos!" pipes up the moron, "And now, I shall show this to everyone!" he declares triumphantly.

"If you show that to anyone back home, I can only guarantee your own demise," I say dangerously.

Hotaru pokes the twitching form of Bon, "Are you alive?" he asks.

"I think you're stating the obvious, boyo," says a playful male voice.

I groan, face-palming, "What the hell are you doing here, Aiden?" I ask, already annoyed with the man's presence.

The redhead was dressed in black t-shirt with the words, 'I see stupid people,' on the front in bright red letters that looked like blood, blue jeans with various chains, his other usual shiny stuff and black boots.

He smirks at me, brushing strands of his flame-red hair from his eyes, "Can't I come see what you're up to?" he asks innocently.

_Ha, innocent my ass._

"No, you can't. I'm on a mission, if you can't already see that," I snap at him.

"I am too," he replies with a grin.

I snort, "Really."

"Uh-huh. I'm here to retrieve this idiot over there," he points to Kaz, "And tell you that your mission's done," he explains.

"Then why have you disabled your invisibility thingy?" I ask.

"Cuz I felt like it," replies Aiden.

"I am NOT an idiot!" shouts Kaz angrily.

"Yes you are, shut the hell up," I snarl at him, "And you!" I snap, turning my attention back to the redhead, "Why would they send a high level shinigami on some retrieval mission?" I question.

Aiden blinks, "Eh? What's that?" he mutters, ignoring me, and taking the photo from Akari, who protests,

"Hey, I was looking at that! Are all Shinigami this rude?"

"Whoa, who's the babe?" comments the redhead, eyeing my picture appreciatively.

"It's Renka," pipes up Tora, squeezing his nostrils together to staunch the blood flow.

For the first time since I've known him, Aiden is silent.

_Oh crap, this can't be good._

"Oh, really?" he says calmly, "That's interesting. Who took the photo?" he asks, glancing at Kaz, who flinches,

"I-I dunno! I just posted a bulletin for black mail, and this picture was sent to me!" says the idiot nervously.

"Do you know of any copies of the photo?" questions Aiden again, more adamant this time.

"I don't know!" wails Kaz.

"Hm. Then I guess I'll just hold on to this," the redhead says to himself.

"What?!" I exclaim, "You pervert! You just want that for your personal collection!" I shout, pointing an accusing finger at him.

He stares at me, "You don't want this getting out, do you?" he asks seriously.

"No, I don't, but I'd rather not have you keep it," I reply, crossing my arms over my chest in a huff.

"HEY! I'm still gonna get revenge, ya know!" pipes up Kaz suddenly.

"Oh, put a cork in it, brat!" snaps Bon, "And you!" he points at Aiden, "You really enjoy that kind of stuff?" he asks.

I sweatdrop, "When the hell did you regain consciousness? And this has nothing to do with you guys, so butt out," I add.

"I want to know too!" exclaims Tora, effectively stopping his nose bleed.

Aiden glances up at the ceiling, as if in thought, and then replies, "I enjoy it if Renka is the one cosplaying."

That silences everyone. My left eye starts to twitch in irritation.

"You bastard!!" I shout, lunging forward to drop kick him.

Being the fast, clever bastard he is, he grabs Kaz at the last second, and uses the moron as a shield.

And I send the moron flying across the room, and colliding with the opposite wall.

Ignoring the whining Kaz, rambling on about his bleeding eyes and crap, I glare furiously at the redhead before me.

"He's like Kyo's creepier looking twin," pipes up Yuya suddenly.

"Wouldn't that be Kyoshiro?" asks Tora in confusion.

The blond nods in realization, "Oh yeah."

"No need to be so angry, Renka-chan," says Aiden smugly, "I was just stating the facts."

"Oh, you're really asking for it lecher," I growl, fists clenched at my sides.

"Heh, how about this? I'll let you punch me, right here," he points to the left side of his jaw, "Free of charge."

I stare at him suspiciously, "You'd better not try anything," I mutter, winding my fist back.

When he doesn't move, I thrust my first forward, inches away from his face.

At the last second, he catches my fist, and yanks me toward him, "Ha, just kidding Renka-chan!" he says cheerfully, ruffling my hair.

_I should have known. He'd never let me damage his precious face. _

"Look, aren't you guys supposed to be leaving already? We have people to kill, worlds to conquer," says Bon.

"Che! Stupid one eyed asshole, trying to get rid of me," I mutter in mock annoyance.

"But of course!" replies the Cyclopes with a smirk, "Plus, I'm a little worried that this kid here will downright molest you while we're right here," he adds thoughtfully.

"Hmm," murmurs Aiden, "That's not such a bad idea..."

"You asshole!" I shriek, pulling away from him and kicking him in the stomach, fists clenched at my sides.

Aiden coughs weakly, and slumps to the floor, arms wrapped around his stomach, "That was cold, Ren-chan," he croaks.

"Hey, where's the moron?" asks Akari suddenly, glancing around the room.

"He's right there," I say, pointing to Hotaru, who blinks blankly at me.

"No, not that one, I mean the other shinigami, the one that tried to kill you," adds Akari, now looking a bit more concerned.

I take a look around, then shrug, "Guess he got away. All well."

"Ugh, not all well," says Aiden, climbing to his feet and rubbing his bruised abdomen, "It's my ass on the frying pan if he goes missing…again," he states.

He then blinks, and stares, "Uh, why are you all lined up at those doors?" he asks.

At this, I turn, and sigh wearily, "You guys…seriously. That isn't going to work," I state.

Here's how the pairings for each door went: Kyo, Akira, Okuni, and Hotaru at door one, quickly joined by Akari, who shuffles over to the group and grins.

At door two was Bon, leaning lazily against the door, an eyebrow raised.

Door three was Yuya and Bon, _Not a good idea. Not at all._

And the last door was the ninja boy, Sasuke, all alone. _He can handle himself, but Tora's gonna be all over poor Yuya-chan the whole time. She'll probably get kidnapped or something._

"If you split nine people into four groups, you split two, two, three!" shouts Tora, "It's common sense!"

"He's afraid to go alone. See how he hides behind Yuya-san?" Akira says to Hotaru, who nods, "Oh, right!"

That of course, riles up the squinty eyed man, and starts a loud fight.

I roll my eyes at their antics, and glance at Aiden, "So what are you gonna do now?" I ask.

He grins, "Aw, are you worried about me Ren-chan?" he teases.

"Of course not, fool," I retort, "You're gonna go find that idiot Kaz correct?" I state.

"Well, since he's intent on getting revenge on you…for who knows what; I figured I'd better stick around here. To protect you, ya know?" he replies, winking at me playfully.

I glare at him, and smack him upside the head, "I don't need your, or anyone else's protection," I snap, "I can take care of myself."

Aiden pouts at me, "You're so mean! Going to hurt me for wanting to protect my little kitten," he whines.

I grit my teeth angrily, "I'm going to kill you," I mutter, eyes narrowed.

Aiden ignores my death glare and asks, "You guys still haven't come to a decision on who's going with whom?"

Hotaru gazes at him for a moment, then counters with, "Are you two lovers?"

That question is followed by, "Akari, you're strong right? So YOU go alone!" by a red faced Tora.

Aiden smiles cheerfully, and snakes an arm around my waist, nuzzling his cheek against the top of my head, "Aw, ya caught us, boyo."

At that time, I was trembling with rage, barely able to contain the killing intent that leaked out.

I thrust my hand out, and summon my scythe.

In response, Aiden immediately backs away from me, "H-hey. I was just joking around ok? I-I- know we're not like that yet..." he trails off as I approach him, a stone cold expression on my face.

I swing my scythe down, Aiden emits a strangled scream, and a thud echoes through the room.

The groups' arguing ceases, all eyes are on us.

Aiden slowly cracks a single blue eye open, and peers at me timidly, then gives himself a once over, making sure I didn't cause any damage.

He stands, and sees the evidence: a single decapitated soldier, its head discarded across from it, limbs sprawled out in front of the body, the knife still clutched in a death grip.

"Y-you saved me," says Aiden in awe, eyes wide.

I roll my eyes, "I was going to kill you. Lady luck must be on your side, 'cuz that guy came up behind you and got caught in the cross-fire," I state.

"You two make weird lovers," comments Hotaru randomly.

I stare at him for a moment, and a split second later, he's on the floor, taking the blows that were raining on him, courtesy of my foot.

Aiden grabs me by my arms, "Ok, Ren-chan, you know you can't kill your target, it's against the rules and all," he says, pulling me away from the bruised and battered blond.

Of course, he forgets how tall he is, and I find myself dangling in the air.

"Aiden," I say.

"Yeah?"

"Put me down," I growl.

He glances at me in surprise, then chuckles, "Hm, I dunno, doncha like the view from here?" he asks, "Since you're so short, you never get to see this high up, right?" he teases.

I narrow my eyes at him and bring my leg upwards, kneeing the red haired idiot in the stomach.

He drops me, and luckily I land on my feet.

Unfortunately for him, Aiden lands on his ass, holding his stomach, "T-that wasn't nice at all," he manages to gasp out.

I snort, "I'm not a very nice person," I snap, "And besides, you're like a gangly giant!" I add moodily.

"Psh, you're definitely not a nice person," mutter the others in unison.

"Don't you people have a clan to demolish or something?" I ask, eying them critically, placing a hand on my hip.

"Yeah that's right!" pipes up Yuya, "I still have to pay them back for all the trouble they caused!" she exclaims enthusiastically.

_Right. Anyway…_

"So how are we gonna figure out who goes to which door?" asks Sasuke, playing with his ball and cup thing (A/N forgot what it's called, too lazy to look it up. Gomen.), irritation evident in his voice.

"Hotaru, you're a Mibu, you can go by yourself!" says Akira suddenly, frowning at the blond.

The pyromaniacs' simple answer was this, "I'm Kyo's servant."

"That's enough!" shouts Tora, face fuming red.

"Shut up, silly-Tora!" snaps Akira, glaring at the squinty eyed man.

"WHAT?! Cross-Dresser!" retorts Tora, getting a small chuckle from Hotaru,

"Heh."

"Hm, I think those two would make an excellent couple," muses Aiden, fully recovered from his injuries.

"I have to agree with you there," I state with a smug smirk.

They both gawk at us, excuses drowned out by each other,

"WHAT?! NO WAY! I don't like men! I LOVE YUYA-HAN!" can you guess who that was?

"I HATE THIS IDIOT! I would rather make out with a dumbass like Hotaru rather than this fool! And let's not forget the fact that I LIKE WOMEN!" not hard to figure out who this is.

"Eh?" mutters Hotaru in confusion, blinking from one guy to the other.

"Nothing Hotaru," I say in exasperation.

"Regardless of these guys' love affair," says Aiden, ignoring the others protests, "I think we should move on."

"How about we write down the numbers of the doors on slips of paper and pass them out to everyone. And whatever number you get, that's the door they are assigned," suggests Yuya, looking to each member of the group for approval.

Since no one had any other ideas, the idea was taken well.

"Anyone have any paper?" asks Bon, glancing around at the others.

I sigh and grumble under my breath, reaching into my pockets.

I produce a few folded up pieces of paper, and I tear them into strips and gradually hand them over to Yuya, who smiles brightly, and starts scribbling numbers onto them.

"I can officially go back to HQ now right, since my mission is initially over?" I ask Aiden, an eyebrow raised expectantly.

He cocks his head to the side, "Well you'd be doing me a huge favor by staying until the idiot comes back," he replies, "And don't worry, I won't let him hurt you," he adds with a grin.

I roll my eyes, "Whatever."

"Besides," pipes up the redhead again, "I have a feeling he'll be coming back any time now."

_Of course this fool just HAS to say that, _I murmur internally, and sigh audibly.

And of course, once those thoughts echoed within my mind, his 'feeling' became reality.

I figure punctuality is a no-go for him, so he decided to try something different.

Even if that hair-brained scheme was just to do this.

Both Aiden and I side step as a scythe comes looming into view, nearly slicing us into pieces.

_Hm, I totally wasn't expecting that, _I mutter sarcastically in my head, rolling my eyes skyward and praying for patience.

"I'm back!" declares the idiot in a loud booming voice.

"We can see that, Kaz," deadpans Aiden, "And I must say, you really know how to make an entrance," he states sarcastically in a playful tone.

"He the exact same thing the first time," pipes up Akira with a frown, closed eyes focusing on Yuya as she hands out the stripes of paper.

"Renka-san, he's getting annoying, can you hurry and get rid of him?" whines Akari, making a pouty face at me.

Thankfully, with nerves of steel I avoided her pleading pitiful gaze, and glance at the idiot, I mean Kaz.

"Here's what's gonna happen, moron," I state, "Aiden here is gonna restrain you, and we're all going back to HQ. Got it?"

"Why do I have to restrain him?" mutters Aiden, but goes unheard.

He glares at me, eyes narrowed, "No! That is not what's gonna happen! I'm going to get my revenge on you, and dance in your blood!" he exclaims.

"Where were you anyway?" asks Aiden boredly, "I figured you'd regroup or something. Unless this is your take on the term 'regroup."

Kaz gives a sheepish look, "Well uh, I had to use the bathroom. This place is huge, and I had a hard time finding one. And when I did, I ran into this creepy guy that tried to sic his giant cats on me," he explains.

_That was an interesting story. What I wanna know is, how the hell can we use the bathroom if we're dead? _(A/N sheepish look don't ask me!)

"But that doesn't matter, what does matter, is the fact that I'm gonna kill you!" shouts Kaz with renewed energy, raising his scythe in the air.

All of a sudden, a massive group of Zombies materialize right in front of us.

"More zombies? Man, I hate zombies," complains Aiden with feral growl aimed at the idiot.

"You do know you're gonna get in huge-ass trouble for bringing these things here, right?" I ask the idiot, an eyebrow raised.

"Great, more fighting," pipes up Hotaru, reaching for his sword with a warrior's fire burning in his eyes.

"So what, you guys get in trouble if you have zombies?" asks Tora curiously, having paused his fighting with Akira for the moment.

"Well, duh," I snap in irritation, my gaze shifting around to the snarling, decaying faces of the undead.

"Heh, what Ren-chan means to say, is that our job is to ferry souls to the other side, and occasionally take up the weird missions the higher ups get from _their _higher ups, probably kami and angels and stuff," explains Aiden cheerfully, materializing his own scythe in his hand, a bright silver pole and blade, with black vine designs up the side of the blade and pole.

"I suppose we could go for another round then," says Bon, smirking confidently at Kaz.

"Hold it," I speak up, "Me and Aiden will take care of this. You guys just hurry up and get into your groups. And try not to kill each other," I say, peering pointedly at Akira and Tora, who huff and turns their backs to each other.

Aiden grins at me, "So we're finally gonna fight side by side, eh? Makes me excited," he drawls, nudging me with his shoulder.

I ignore him and summon my scythe, "Just shut up and start decapitating, fool," I reply instead, lunging into the fray and swinging my scythe left and right, chunks of zombie-flesh flying into the air.

The idiotic redhead just chuckles at me, and jumps in himself, laughing as heads go flying.

"They're enjoying themselves as much as we did," says Akari with a smile.

"They're really weird," comments Hotaru randomly.

That earns him about ten skeptical glances, and a few scoffs.

"Those two can take out as many zombies individually, as the five of us did combined. I guess Shinigami really are all that," states Akira with a small nod of approval.

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A few minutes later, I groan, stretching my arms high above my head. I was the only one in a sea of limbs and heads, having taken care of my share of the zombie pests.

"Don't tell me you're tired already after only that?" asks Aiden, glancing at me distractedly as he finishes off his last five.

I scoff, "Hell no. Plus, this is coming from the slowpoke who still isn't done yet?" I counter with a smirk, sending my scythe away and folding my arms behind my head in a relaxed manner.

He frowns at me as the last corpse collapses to the ground, "Who are you calling a slowpoke?"

I grin, "Why, you of course," I reply.

"That was quite impressive," comments Akira with a nod in my direction, arms crossed over his chest.

"Yeah it was pretty badass!" adds Bon with a grin, "You took them out faster than we did!"

Aiden walks over to me and asks, "How does he know that if he can't see?"

I roll my eyes, "You know how those types are, they find other ways to 'see," I explain.

Raising my voice, I say, "What don't tell me you're interested in becoming a shinigami, eh?"

"That's right, it's not even guaranteed when you cross over," adds Aiden helpfully, "You have to be chosen."

"But putting that aside, we still have another matter to attend to," I state, glancing at the redhead.

He glances back at me, "You mean the matter of me sexing you up right here?" he asks, totally serious.

I smack him upside the head, "No you pervert! That idiot over there!" I reply, pointing a finger at the shocked Kaz, who was currently staring at the corpses of his zombies.

"I'll cross over his retarded attempts at zombies, and you restrain him, alright?" I add, summoning my scythe again and starting the ritual.

Kaz, having heard my instructions, slowly backs away, "W-w-wait! I wasn't really gonna do anything!" he stutters, waving his arms about frantically.

"You made my job difficult, and then, you tried to hurt my Ren-chan," growls Aiden, slowly approaching the panicked idiot, "NO ONE gets away with that."

With one swift move, he had summoned a binding spell and restrained Kaz.

Kaz, having realized he's in deep shit now, starts to cry, "I don't wanna die!"

I sigh, "You're not gonna die you moron," I say helpfully.

He brightens from his position face first on the ground, tears flowing down his cheeks.

"You're just gonna get tortured a bunch and probably left within about an inch of your life," I continue nonchalantly.

"That's not very helpful at all," comments Yuya with a frown.

"Heh, I agree with you there, Yuya-san," pipes up Okuni, lustful eyes dragging themselves away from Kyo for a moment and landing on me.

"Whatever," I mutter, "Are we ok to leave now? Are we cleared?" I ask Aiden.

He nods at me, "Yep! Both missions are complete and we can go at anytime," he replies.

I grin, "Yes!" and turn towards the rest of the group.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye. Take care of yourselves, don't get killed," I say, nodding at each in turn.

Sasuke scoffs and rolls his eyes at me, "Yeah right, like that's gonna happen. We're gonna kill some people and enjoy it," he states.

Chuckling, I reach over and ruffle his hair, "You're such a cute kid, ya know? Protect Yuya-chan, ok?" I say.

He slaps my hand away, but nods in return, "Yeah, yeah, whatever."

I turn to Kyo and smirk at him, "Have fun on your massacre," I say.

He nods at me with a smirk, "Of course I will."

"And Akari-chan," I add, peering at the pink haired woman, "Come visit sometime. Let me know when Akira and Tora start the baby making process, alright?"

She giggles at me, which is pretty hard to do considering the sheer volume of the ice-user and tigers' shouts of rage.

"Damn, this is taking forever," I mutter sourly, "Yuya! Keep Kyo on a tight leash,"

"Bon," he looks up, "watch your back old fart," he narrows his eye at the old fart comment, but nods in return,

"Don't get raped by the redhead," he advices in turn.

"I won't," I reply, "Hotaru-baka,"

He blinks at me in confusion,

"Kick your brothers' ass," I state with a serious nod.

Suddenly, a dark tunnel appears in the wall opposite of me.

The reactions of the others varied.

"You ready Ren-chan?" asks Aiden, draping Kaz over his shoulder.

I nod, and follow him as he turns into the tunnel.

"Oi! Renka-han!" calls Tora.

I stop, "What is it?"

"You never told us how old you were," he accuses.

I chuckle under my breath, "That's right."

Turning back around, I smirk, "I'll be turning two hundred and four in a few months," I reply, laughing at the shock etched on their faces as the portal closes, as I wave back at them cheekily.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"So, they saw you," states Yuusuke with a raised eyebrow as he peers as me from behind his desk.

I nod, "Yeah, and don't give me any shit, one of them was the demon child."

He nods and leans back in his chair, "That's true. You won't get in trouble anyhow, since the mission was successful, and you and Aiden did bring back Kaz," he says.

I stand, "Then can I go now?" I ask impatiently.

His head was already buried in his paper work as he nods, shooing me off, "Yes, yes. And make sure Lena isn't coming, alright?" I add.

I roll my eyes and stroll out the door, slamming it behind me.

Marching down the hall, I glance up as I notice a strange, pure aura gradually coming from the opposite direction.

It was a young woman, most likely in her late twenties, thick dark hair cut to her shoulders framing a pale face, and warm golden eyes gaze confidently at me. I couldn't help but feel those eyes were familiar.

She was wrapped in a white robe, the color for holy beings. This woman was an angel.

"Are you Tanaka Renka?" she asks in a soft voice.

I nod, "Yes I am. What can I do for you, m' lady?" I ask politely.

_You have to be polite, if not, they'll kill your ass._

"You recently went on a mission of observation in the living world, correct?" she questions in a normal voice.

I nod again, "Yes ma'am."

She smiles at me, "Thank you for your efforts, I'm glad to hear that he's doing alright, and has a better relationship with his brother. With all the work I've been assigned, I've never been able to go down myself and watch over him," she states, taking a few steps past me.

She stops, "I'm sure we'll be seeing more of each other real soon," she states, and with a few clicks of her heels, marches away.

Realization dawns on me, _Don't tell me that was his…_

"Oi! Renka-chan!" calls a familiar voice.

A moment later, Aiden is standing beside me, an arm draped over my shoulder, and Marie bounds up beside him with a grin.

"What's with that look on your face?" she asks curiously.

I snap out of it, "Nothing. Don't worry about it. So what's up? And why did you bring him with you?" I ask.

Aiden pouts, "That's mean! And here we were, inviting you out to go drinking with us, in the living world," he teases.

I brighten, "In that case, do whatever you want!" I say cheerfully, grinning at them.

He smiles back, and winks at Marie, who smirks knowingly, "Knew you were never one to refuse drinks."

The three of us start to march away.

"You are paying, right?" I question.

"I will!" volunteers Aiden automatically.

Marie and I both glare at him, "You'll get him/me drunk, moron," we state in unison.

_ Well I guess that turned out to be a pretty ok mission. _

_And I did get to meet an angel too...even if she's related to that dim-wit._

_I better not get more crappy missions later through._

But now all I'm worried about is not getting molested by Aiden while we go drinking…

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End XD. Hehe that was fun! And I'm so glad I'm done with this fic! Dances. So a few issues..uh..the soul going over to the other side thingie…yeah….the souls go up to god and are judged and sent to hell/heaven accordingly.

So I dun remember if I explained: First is god, then the angels, then the generals, then the twn captains, then the higher up shinigami, then middle, then lower. And the scientist do all the…science stuff..

Now I might make another one, with maybe a different shinigami, but I dunno. Please review, and don't flame me..

HotIceRed


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